BOSSES at a home shopping channel have announced the company is to fold.

Shop!, run by media company Granada and retail firm Littlewoods, will cease trading at the end of April.

The closure will lead to the loss of 140 jobs at Granada and 250 at Littlewoods, including 169 at the channel's call centre in Preston, Lancashire.

The announcement follows mounting speculation about the future of Shop!, which was launched in 1998.

Susan Murray, chairwoman of Shop! and sales and marketing director at Littlewoods, said the channel was not meeting shareholders' expectations.

She said: "Recent changes in Littlewoods' senior management have led to a renewed focus on the core business and new channels such as e-commerce, which can provide sustainable income and profit growth.

"While e-commerce is achieving growth with profit potential, our review has concluded that Shop! will not meet its shareholders' expectations."

Talks between Shop! management and trade union officials are under way to try to redeploy some of the redundant workers.